Artist Scott Cohen created the Life Cube Project as a way to bring people together through art and encourage them to write down and pursue their goals, dreams, wishes, and aspirations. Since he first conceived of the project in 2010, the Life Cube has grown from an installation at Burning Man into a series of large-scale participatory public artworks presented across the United States and internationally.

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The idea is simple: people are more likely to pursue a goal once they write it down. Participants write their aspirations on colorful dream tags, add them to the installation, paint murals, create drawings and paintings, and contribute their own ideas to the work. Blank walls gradually become colorful collaborative artworks shaped by thousands of individual voices.

The invitation is not, "I built this. Come and see it." It is, "Come. Be part of the art."

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Three Life Cube installations were presented at Burning Man before Scott received a Burning Man Honorarium Artist grant for the 2015 project. Since then, Life Cubes have been created in major cities, smaller towns, rural communities, museums, schools, civic arts festivals, and public spaces. The installations have ranged from smaller community structures to a twelve-foot metal sculpture and a twenty-four-foot wood-framed Life Cube.

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Each project is created for its particular location. Local artists paint murals directly on the installation. Participants create individual drawings and paintings on canvas, which are assembled into large tapestry-like walls of images. Hundreds of separate expressions become a single community artwork. Schools, volunteers, artists, and local organizations help build, paint, organize, and activate each project.

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Scott has deliberately kept the Life Cube Project non-commercial. It has never been developed as a product, advertising platform, or branded attraction. Although projects have received support from individual donors, grants, foundations, local organizations, and community partners, the work remains centered on art, participation, creativity, and community rather than commerce.

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Some wood Life Cube installations have concluded with large closing ceremonies involving fire and pyrotechnics, while metal, museum, and other installations have taken different forms. Whatever its form, each Life Cube is temporary, collaborative, and built around the belief that the public should not simply view the art, but help create it.

Hundreds of artists and volunteers have helped plan and create Life Cube projects. The project's education and outreach programs have traveled to approximately one hundred schools and provided free art materials to tens of thousands of children. Scott has also spoken about art, community, creativity, and goal setting with students, university groups, shelters, rehabilitation programs, and community organizations.

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As of 2026, more than 100,000 people have participated in or interacted with the Life Cube Project. Installations and programs have taken place in communities including Las Vegas, Reno, Mason Valley, El Paso, the Bronx, Miami Beach, Tulum, Ciudad Juarez, and outside Lviv, Ukraine. Recent international projects have invited participants to write and share their goals and aspirations while contributing to collective works of public art.

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During the pandemic, Scott and his team created online versions of the Life Cube for Virtual Burning Man. He later developed virtual workshops, lesson plans, and collaborative digital art projects that brought together approximately one thousand images created by students working from home.

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Scott continues to develop future Life Cube installations that connect art, creativity, and community. A longtime resident of New York, he now lives in Easton, Maryland, with his wife, Madeleine.